Pride and Belonging

The book Ikigai identifies the sense of belonging and oneness as a major factor to both happiness and longevity. I find this thought powerful. When applied in an organization, it means functioning at a level of trust where you feel like you belong to the organization and, that the organization belongs to you.

We do not live in an egalitarian world, and definitely not so in the workforce make up. This is not from the lack of intent. For, if there were a silver bullet, we would have certainly used it by now.

That brings us to a larger question, as organizations and leaders - how do we build a sense of belonging at the workplace? From experience, I have seen that a feeling of belonging at a workplace is the strongest form of engagement and, this has a high correlation to business outcomes like productivity and retention. So, how do we find ways to make our colleagues feel inclusive? Because when people feel a sense of belonging, they become uninhibited while sharing ideas, speaking up confidently, and contributing in any other way.

Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging

• Diversity is fundamental. It’s about ensuring the representation. More often than naught, I have seen this being reduced to numbers and statistics. But it is about having a voice in every level of decision making. Gender is the most simplistic metric that we use or have used at the workforce. So, moving away from a binary view to a vibrant and diverse one is something that is non-negotiable. Of course, we need to redefine our dimensions of diversity – of thought, ability – neuro abilities, ethnicity and the list goes on.

For instance, in one of the speed mentoring sessions recently, I was asked by many young professionals about ‘how do they manage’ their careers as they were introverted or extremely shy. That is a great point to factor - how do we work with diverse personalities? The idea is not to make an inexhaustive list of diversities, it is to build a culture that can accommodate all and obliterate the need to have a list.

• Inclusion as we mature. How we build this accommodating culture becomes the base for our inclusion approach. Here broadly, three major areas are covered:

Legal: What are the policies and framework we can create to give diversity a fighting chance?

Here too we have grappled with tough decisions. For instance, dozens of countries even today criminalize LGBT+, how do we create an organizational stand in this context? Personally, I have found that a flexible approach helps in complex situations; perhaps start small. It’s not a race – it’s a journey, and every organization will evolve at its own pace. Keep the momentum and try to accelerate but be patient.

Social: Can we build a social acceptability on ground? Be mindful.

We are a sum of our experiences – when it’s a society, it’s our collective experience. This means we all develop unconscious biases. Especially in circumstances such as created by the current COVID-19 pandemic, where most of us are working virtually – it’s easy for the biases to surface. Socially we are seeing a higher rate of unrest. This means at work - we need to consciously move towards psychological proximity in times of physical distancing. So, it would be good to stay connected and positively influence each other. Be more conscious in making time for your people – check-in.

Culture: How do we imbibe these enablers into the organizational DNA? How do we bring together like-minded people?

Building advocacy through leaders and decision makers plays a big role. For that matter all advocacy does. It’s important to normalize diversity and take a vocal stand. We need to introspect constantly and challenge oneself and not take comfort in the numbers.

As another example, when I attended an unconscious bias session last year, despite being an advocate for decades, I became aware of certain thought patterns I hold. Bias – much like stress – cannot be at nil, the key is to be aware and manage it. For this, be honest, be open minded and push yourself to new thoughts and experiences.

• To truly belong. This is my desired space to be in. It’s a state where employee not only feels he belongs at the organization, it’s when he feels the organization belongs to him. This mutual level of trust and ownership has always been the hallmark of all successful organizations. This can neither be mimicked or copied.

This can be built only when an employee, every single one of them, is accepted and enabled to be and bring their authentic selves to work.

In a nutshell, we have just started to move towards full inclusion of our vibrant LGBT+ community. The complexities of social, legal and company environments with the context of personal beliefs, opinions and fears can pose a massive challenge to move ahead.

But here is what, we can do, each of us - be relentless, be vocal, be visible. And, be an Ally as we build momentum to consistently and collectively push for inclusion around the globe.